Albert Allen Frost, previously known as "Preble County Penny", was a man whose partial remains were discovered in Eaton, Ohio in 1968. He had received his nickname from investigators, having originally believed to have been an older woman.
He was identified in November 2023 by Moxxy Forensic Investigations.
Case[]
Albert's disarticulated, unclothed remains were discovered after flooding in the area disturbed their original location. The body lacked its right forearm and right hand. Before this, the decedent had possibly been concealed in a shallow grave.
The time of his death is unclear, as the remains were described as being decomposed. However, it is stated that the decedent had died up to fifteen years before his discovery and was possibly buried between a year and a year-and-a-half before the flooding took place.
Due to his relatively small body size, authorities mistakenly identified the remains as that of a woman and gave him the nickname "Preble Penny".
After a potential match between Mary Jane VanGilder, last seen in 1945, came to light, Albert's remains were exhumed from Mound Hill Cemetery at the end of August 2019. His skull had not been buried with the rest of the remains and was kept aboveground by the original coroners.
In January 2021, Redgrave Research Forensic Services announced its involvement in the case after law enforcement requested its services.
In August 2022, Moxxy Forensic Investigations and Intermountain Forensics took over genealogical testing and research.
Identification[]
The identification of the remains as belonging to Albert Allen Frost was announced on November 17, 2023, by Detective Adam Turner of the Shelby County Police Department, who was the lead investigator in the Mary Jane VanGilder disappearance, as well as authorities from Preble County and the owners of Moxxy Forensics.
Albert Frost had mental health issues in the late 1950s following the death of his father and was often homeless. He disappeared sometime around 1963 or 1964 but was never reported missing to police.
Albert's nieces told authorities in 2023 that their father, Albert's brother George, said to them that he believed Albert had been murdered, possibly beaten to death outside a bar and dumped on a porch, rolled up in a piece of carpet.
Albert's sister, Clara, is a missing person. She was last recorded on the 1950 census, and her husband remarried in 1952, so it is assumed she disappeared sometime between these points. She has never been located, and no records of her are known to exist past the 1950 census. Her death is currently being investigated as a suspected homicide.